Occupy Oakland Protesters Call City's Bluff, Don't Leave, City Blinks

These Occupy Wall Street protests in just about every US city are becoming rat-infested mini-pits of hell to varying degrees. Whether rapes, sexual assaults, drug use, threats, lack of sanitation (rat and human feces), some of these little tent cities have it all; some are worse than others. All have their problems. Occupy Oakland seems to be among the most degenerate. A television reporter allegedly had her life threatened, another reporter had his arm bitten by a protester's dog, and at some point, the protesters prevented any reporters from entering their sub-human living quarters.

In fact, Occupy Oakland got so bad that the city issued protesters an eviction notice that was to be honored by 10pm local time on October 21st. By 11pm, protesters had not been removed and there was no sign of police.

Via Associated Press:

Hundreds of anti-Wall Street protesters defied a city order late Friday to leave their campsite at a plaza outside Oakland's City Hall.

The city had given the Occupy Oakland demonstrators an ultimatum to be out by 10 p.m. PDT Friday, but there were no signs of them leaving well after that hour.

Earlier in the day, city spokeswoman Karen Boyd said that the city gave official notice that the protesters do not have permission to remain overnight and that their encampment is breaking the law.

Many protesters said they have no intentions of leaving even though the city announced Thursday that after nearly two weeks it can no longer uphold public health and safety at the site.

Boyd says she expects the protesters to comply and would not comment on what steps the city would take toward enforcing of the law.

There was no sign of police presence immediately after 10 p.m. Friday.

Several cities in the United States and around the world have arrested anti-Wall Street protesters who have failed to leave public areas.

"I'm not going anywhere. They're going to have to come and take me away," said Christopher Dunlap, 23, who said he has been on the City Hall lawn since the first day of the encampment.

While the city will no longer allow protesters to stay overnight at the site, they can demonstrate there from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m., Boyd said.

Earlier Friday, protester Gerry Johnson, 55, who said he has been at the site for more than a week said it's unlikely his fellow demonstrators will leave.

"I'm trying to keep calm," Johnson said. "We're here for a good cause. I think we'll stand our ground."

Since the protesters, in general, haven't been all that good at enunciating any coherent reason for protesting, perhaps we can deduce that Mr. Johnson thinks breeding rats is a good cause.

Later, early Saturday morning, protesters seemed to mockingly wave at a passing police car.

It will be interesting to see if the city actually stands behind its threat or stands down. If it does the latter, it might be time for the National Guard to step in. Governor Jerry Brown is sure to....... oh, never mind.

More on the mess at Occupy Oakland HERE.

h/t Hapblog: